So this is a little rant about Linux. But first let me clarify - I like Linux! While getting my undergrad we used Linux and Unix servers. And even though I work and develop on the Windows platform, I still run Linux virtual machines and I want to see the Linux platform succeed. That said, Linux will never truly succeed and become mainstream until they make a lot of changes. Three that I'm always stumbling on are...
GUI not command line
Linux seems to have this huge obsession with command line applications and setting program configuration manually via configuration text files. Even as a developer I tire of this quickly. It's so much nicer to open a graphical program and click a checkbox to enable a feature. The last thing I want to do is run a command line tool and try and remember the syntax to add the setting to a text file.
Distribute compiled binaries
If you want to download a program, chances are the program is distributed as the source files leaving it up to you the user to compile the program. Are you serious!?! I'm a developer with the know-how to compile applications and I don't want to do this. So what's the average person suppose to do? Fortunately companies like Ubuntu compile common applications to make it easier. But what if the application you want is not one Ubuntu offers? I'm all for offering the source files, but also offer compiled binaries to make it easier for the casual user.
Tar/GZip suck, stop using them
This is closely related to distributing compiled binaries, but the Linux development community is seriously in love with tar and gzip. It's to the point where if a company also distributes Windows binaries they might distribute them in tar/gzip format. I don't care what platform you're working on, tar/gzip are old and suck! I recently downloaded some files for Windows. The tar/gzip file was 15.8 MB in size and the raw tar file was 59.1 MB in size. Compare that to 13.5 MB for pkzip and 9.82 MB for 7Zip. Pkzip and 7Zip are both available for all platforms and wipe the floor with tar/gzip. So please stop using tar/gzip.
Sorry for the rant, but again I want Linux to succeed but until they make lots of changes such as these three, Linux will never truly succeed.
You should check out Ubuntu. I haven't compiled a package in years using Ubuntu. They even have a GUI install for the applications (or you can use commandline).
ReplyDeleteAlso the reason to use tar/gzip is that those tools preserve CR/LF for each platforms which 7zip and pkzip don't do. Or they didn't use to.